


Below The Means

by KinkyLuthor



Category: American Horror Story, Sarah Paulson - Fandom, lily rabe - Fandom
Genre: Crime, F/F, LGBTQ, Mystery, Pride, Suspense, love is love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 11:18:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9382181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KinkyLuthor/pseuds/KinkyLuthor
Summary: This was something symmetrical, something long lost in a sea of worries , something that comes up behind you and grabs and shakes you , this was something none of us could explain nor could we stop .This was one of those things that seemed like a dream , and all the while it turned out to be your exact true reality .Could it really be ?Was this really happening to me ? Was I really sitting on a plush bed that wasn't my own ? Was I breathing air that probably wasnt meant for me ? Was my life short lived and everything I known just a simple lie ? Was I looking up at the light , and yet it was the wrong light ? Was she really for me or did she just make it seem like that ?I can barely believe , that I was always below the means .





	1. Chapter 1

Lily pov . 

I sat on my couch consumed in one of my favorite old TV shows "Americas best dance crew " , the TV was on about 50 , so it was loud enough for my little sister Cierra to be raging mad about what I had on .

"Turn it down !"

I chuckled and laid my feet on the table . 

Before I knew it an angry Cierra was standing in my face pouting . "Lily please " 

"Fine" I grab the remote and turn the TV down to 30 , cierra nods in approval and goes back upstairs .

I roll my eyes , and get up off the couch to go to the fridge . 

"Ya know Cierra we have to go to this party pretty soon , and your taking like 34 years " I open a bottle of orange juice , looked at it , then simply placed it back in the fridge .

"Yea yea yea ! I'm just trying to look cute , unlike you my beauty and fashion doesn't come from just putting on a sundress and some sandals . I like real fashion , things that beyonce wears ."

I snort " yea , and apparently you like being broke too . "

"Lily when are we ever broke ?"

"I'm just saying , with the way your "fashion " is going that day might be soon " 

I could hear her let out a playful laugh , and shout "okay ill be down in a few "

Sarah Paulson pov.

I was standing in front of Jessica as she examined my whole outfit . She shook her head slowly . 

"Dear dear dear "

I frowned , what did that even mean ? 

She pulled at my sweat pants and pulled my T-shirt down a little . 

"A pony-tail? Really Sarah ?"

"Sorry for not wanting my hair in my mouth "

Her forehead wrinkled a bit as she looked at me "you know your actually really pretty when you dress up "

I got offended quickly " and I'm ugly when I'm not dressed up ? "

She smiles softly "Sarah ...."

I nod "sorry .... I just like to be comfortable ."

She gives me one nod "and your comfortable is cute , but if I may ?"

She reaches towards my hair , and I shrug , she pulls it out of a pony tale and shakes it around a little .

She looks at me and bites her lip , "you know , your really attractive . "

I blush hard , and smile "thanks"

"Oh and before you ask , yes "

"Huh" I was confused .

"I know your gonna ask for the 1648483th time if lily likes you , and the answer is yes " 

I smile , "so don't ask ? "

"Unless your willing to get smacked "

I hold up my hands as Jessica laughs .

" now my dear if your content with what you have on ........"

"I am "

"Then let's go "  
I nod slowly and walk towards the door , stoping quickly before I even reach it.  
"Hey " I say as I turn to Jessica 

She looks at me , her eyebrows raised.  
" yes "  
" I know I'm a little annoying , about the whole lily thing , so thanks .... You know for dealing "  
Jessica only nods and starts to walk out the door towards her car.

Lily pov   
I was walking around the party , pretty much just looking for someone fun to engage in a conversation with. But to my dismay the party I had picked to go to was full of people I had no liking for.  
I walk up to the table and grab a few drinks. Which were all unsurprisingly for me.

" seriously ?" I look over my red cup into the eyes of my little sister.  
" what ?" I say clearly unaware of what she was so dumb struck by.  
Cierra simply points at the two red cups in my hand.   
In return of her disgusted facial expressions, i just shrugged .  
" what's a party with out a drunk girl ? " I ask casually as I sip out of my first cup and then my second one.  
Cierra looks me dead in my eyes and says , " well I understand what you are trying to imply here , BUT I'd very much rather that 'drunk ' girl not be my sister "  
" lighten up lil sis , it's a party "  
She only shakes her head.  
" lily I understand it's a party , and you want to have fun , but I'm gonna be the one who has to drag you out of rooms with thousands of boys and hold your hair while you throw up all over someone's bathroom "

I cringed at the mention of boys , and gang rape activities. Not only am I not into the male population , I also thought of rape to be one of the biggest least cared about problems in America today , of course with systematic racism.

I hand Cierra one of my cups.   
" compromise " I say as I finish off what was left in the cup that was still tight and snug in my hand.   
Cierra looks me up and down and says "alright , I'll take it ".

As Cierra walked away I sat my cup down and started to look for something to eat in the kitchen , maybe bread or something.  
Cierra had always been there for me , she was but maybe 2 years younger then me , and I'm pretty sure those two years where she wasn't around I was reckless, and just a crazy kid in general. 

So, although I'm annoyed at Cierra most of the time , I love her to death . She has stopped me from doing a lot of bad things , and has come to my rescue when things were already bad and I needed a way out.

*******************************************

I guess I must have zoned out after eating because the party was at a level it hadn't even been close to when I went back into the living room. Everyone was hype. I'm pretty sure someone was having sex in the closet next to the stair case and even Cierra was chilled out , slumped on a purple couch talking to some boy who was also slumped right next to her.

" LILY "   
I had heard my name but I thought I was just tripping.  
" LILY "  
I turned around and saw Sarah .  
" come sit with me " I nod and go over and sit down on the couch with her that was vertical from the couch my sister was sitting at.  
" it's about time you got here " I say as I lean back against the couch. She only chuckles .  
" what can I say? Looking this good takes time " she flips her hair and tosses me a smile.

I laugh , and shake my head lightly.   
" hey lily " Sarah says as she looks in my eyes. I fidget from her strong  stare , before saying yes.  
" you look really good " I smile shaking off my nervousness. All she wanted to do was compliment how I liked today , how I looked at this party , how I was dressed for this party . Nothing but a friendly gesture right? It's not like she was going to look into my eyes and confess that she loves me.  
" thanks " I say after possibly too long of a thought.

" you okay ?" She rubs my back as she looks at me with that 'I know you aren't okay but I'm asking to see if your gonna lie' face.  
I sigh and stare at her.   
" I feel bad" . She looks at me puzzled at what I possibly could be feeling bad about.   
" about what" she stops robbing my back , I fidget from the exposure to uncomfortableness.  
" uh ...... " I suddenly had a lump in my throat . I coughed a bit trying to clear myself of all nervousness. 

"I'm waiting " Sarah folds her arms clearly upset at the fact I'm taking so long to answer her serious question about my health and mental state.  
" hey sis " a swaying Cierra calls my name and I let out a quick sigh of relief. Saved by the high party going Cierra.  
I look at Sarah , as I get up " sorry but I should get her home. Me and Teri have this thing in the morning and I have to get Cierra home so I can get her to sleep and you know the deal"  
Sarah looks at me clearly disappointed. " yeah , I know the deal " she sighs " no time for me What so ever" .

I almost didn't hear the last part she said on account of her saying it so low. I turn around and look at Cierra who was all but almost on the ground. I Sighed this sudden sadness of Sarah's would have to wait , I walked over to tend to my sister.  
" oh my god I love you . Your nice . " cierra's drunk words slid of her tongue as if she were trying to pierce the sky.  
" I know sis , but listen we have to ge-" Cierra cuts me off by putting her finger to my lip. I raise my eyebrow at her.   
"Shhh . Can't you hear that ?" I try to listen closely , but I still heard nothing .  
" shhhh ..... It's"   
" it's what ?"  
"It's birds "  
I glanced around the room almost wishing Cierra wasn't my problem . I shook my head the child was clearly too high and too drunk to function or think right.   
It was 10 at night , I hadn't heard a bird since 3:50 this morning . And she said she heard a bird.  
A damn bird . I thought to myself as I helped Cierra out side and into the car. A fucking bird yo . Who the hell . Why the hell. I chuckle at my thoughts , and buckle my seat belt. Sarah's distress at me leaving was all but forgotten.


	2. The call

Lily Pov  
I wasn't even half way through the day and I was already getting complaints from Cierra.

"You said that we would only be here for a few , I have places to be " Cierra folds her arms and stares at me , possibly waiting for me to apologize for keeping her away from her plans this long.  
I sigh " Cierra , I'm sorry. I thought teri would be ready "   
" as if she could have ever been ready for such a call lily "

I swallowed the lump in my throat before Cierra could figure out that I was getting extremely uncomfortable.   
" why did we even come here?" Her tone changed from anger to pure concern.

" I just ..... I just wanted to talk to her "  
" but lily "   
" I know . I should be leaving the past alone , but it's been bothering me. I just need to know alright ??"  
She only frowns at me before nodding.

She stays faced toward the window , until we got 5 minutes into the silence.  
" lily , you know that wasn't your fault "  
I swallow hard and try to forget the memory that was coming quickly into my brain.

" that's weird , because I could have swore it was all my fault"  
" no you and Teri didn't do this , you have to stop this "  
I start to open my mouth to defend the fact that she thinks I'm innocent , but teri pulls at the car door.  
" I'll talk to you about this later , I promise " Cierra only sighs.

I unlock the door and Teri hops in , buckling her seat belt. I check my mirror and pull off.

" so , did you get the same call I got ?"  
My eyes dart to Teri , her face is pale and cold. I had an idea of who it was that had called her phone.


	3. The Normal

Cierra pov.  
It had been a week since me and lily had listened to the voicemail that was sent to Teri's phone. Everyone was just rotating spending nights at each other's house , and honestly this was the first time everything had seemed normal in possibly years , of just weirdness.  
Today , teri was at our house. I went down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Teri and lily were sitting on the couch , lily looked distressed and Teri looked very sad. I go into the kitchen and grab a bottle of water before going into the living room with the two.  
" so " I say as I open up my bottle of water. "Why do you guys look like your having a damn couple coral?"

Teri's face flushes pink at the mention of the word 'couple'. I cough loudly " that was a joke guys " , instinctively lily laughs her hardest. I smile , she always knew when to laugh at a joke that was going wrong.

" no seriously though , what's up ?" I sit my bottle of water on the table and plop myself on the couch by my sister.   
" it's nothing really " , Teri try's to get the conversation out the way.  
I shake my head lightly . " alright , truth please lily .........."  
" she was talking about us "  
"'You guys ?? Or ??"  
Lily nods. I put my finger to my forehead trying to figure it all out.  
" are you guys back at it or ?"  
Lily nods her head no . " Um u actually wanna date Sarah "

I smile at the mention of Sarah , the girl was a darling. " oh my god yes " I grab Lily's hands possibly too excited about the mention of her crush. Teri looks away and bits her lip clearly trying to hold back the tears forming at the bottom of her eyes.  
I look her way , and reach over and touch her thigh. I get up and mention her name as I make my way to the kitchen , hoping that she'd follow me into the room.  
As planned she gets up and follows me.

Once we get into the kitchen , I Turn to face her . " listen Teri , I know your upset but listen , if you want lily you just have to work hard , okay ? No matter what she says work hard. Don't push it . Don't invade her privacy , but love her as much as you can, alright ?"

Teri nods , and I pull her in for a hug. " now tell me everything you remember about that night last year". Teri automatically knew what I was talking about.

Teri pov.  
Dear god. She wants to know about that night ? About that horrible night?  My thoughts were rambling inside my head and I was trying my best not to make eye sight with Cierra.   
" hey where is savy?" I say trying to change the subject, quickly. Cierra crosses her arms before she starts to speak , " she said she needed a vacation .... She'll be back in a few days" she smirks at me " I told you something now you tell me something "

She can't be serious. "I don't think we should talk about this Cierra". I grab onto the counter behind me in hopes that if I felt like I was gonna fall it would completely withhold me standing up right. Cierra rolls her eyes " Come on. My sister only tells me bits and parts of it and that's not good enough for me. I know she is holding something back "  
How would you know that Cierra ? I stare at Cierra and then her eyes start to water and all the secrets me and lily had tried to bury away came back.  
I told her about how we went to this party down town , and how this guy practically got us in. I told her about how he tried to hit on lily , but she pushed him off because of course she's mad gay , and he came to me and did the same. I told her about how he got upset, freaked out , yelled at us , threatened us. I told her about how we were partying one minute In a crowd full of people , to when we were tied up in someone's basement. 

I tell her about how I woke up first. I tell her about what I saw . I tell her that when lily wakes up we can smell him on her and she no longer has any panties on under the skirt she wore to the party. Of course we just pieced it together that he had ether assaulted or raped her . Ether way lily was no good, when she got up and smelled him all over her. I tell Cierra how she freaked out , how lily went crazy . First she cried and sobbed as if the world was shaking under her. Then she got anger and she yelled and she screamed , and her eyes looked totally black , like she was possessed. I tell Cierra that something in lily changed , her mind set changed. She was hurt. She was confused. So she changed. It wasn't a bad change but she changed. I tell Cierra that lily is the only reason we got out of the basement . And I tell Cierra of how I saw Sarah down the street but lily did not.   
After telling Cierra this long story , she stares at me for a little. 

Her eyes start to water again . " h-h-he fucking touched her " her words were shaken and hard to really comprehend but I understood what she was saying so I shook my head yes before she had time to ask another question.  
" fuck! I have to tell savy " she storms off , leaving me in the kitchen by myself, and all my thoughts on the memory that was just brought back up.


	4. Intersect

Savy pov. 

"What are you saying?"  
I was on the phone with Cierra and she was freaking out , all her words were in a jumble.

"I'm saying that something serious happened to our sister"  
"Like????"  
" just know it's bad. And WE have to do something"  
"But Cierra why can't she handle herself"

Their was a long pause on cierra's end of the line. I just took that as my cue to hush up too.

" you know that she will not do anything. She's such a baby. We have to help. Please tell me you'll help."

I knew that the help I would be providing would not be the type of help you just give when someone doesn't understand the homework that is given by a math teacher , but that the help I was giving was the type of help you give when someone wants a body moved and the scene cleaned up.

I sigh. " yes , I promise I'll help"  
"Great. I'll tell you the plan later . Gotta go "

The other end of the line , hangs up , the phone still firmly pressed against my ear. I think about what I just agreed too and wondered who it was that we were gonna hurt.

Lily pov.

"Lily can we talk"

Teri looks up at me and smiles softly.  
"Yes but before we start , I have something to tell you"  
"Alright. Go ahead"  
Teri fidgets and sighs possibly trying to gather the courage to tell me what she had to tell me.  
"Cierra forced me to tell her about that night. I'm so sorry"

I froze in place. My mind wondering back to that night.

* that night last year*   
***************************  
"This is gonna be the best party we've ever been too" Lily yells in my ear as we get closer and closer to the front.  
We had been waiting to go to this party for over 3 years and finally we had the time to go. We'd always been so busy with life , with school, with work and with social and family activities , but now we had the time and it was gonna be lit.

After 2 hours we made our way to the front. A big man stops us at the front of the line holding out his hand.  
" passes please" He says as if he only knew those two words.  
I was confused. I looked over at Lily. we need a pass?"  
She shrugs at me , clearly just as confused.  
The big guy in front of me stares me dead in the eye. "No pass no getting in".  
"Seriously?"   
"Seriously!"  He says in a mocking tone.  
"Fine , whatever . Let's go lily "  
I grab Lily's hand and start to go back to the end of the line so we can make our way home. Little did we known , that would be the last time we ever left from a party feeling safe and content , even if the party was one we didn't really get into.

Teri pov.  
Lilly is clearly having a flash back so I wait for her to get finished.   
"Lilly we really should do something about your sister"  
She only nods. I start to wonder if she is okay , I walk away from her knowing deep down that she never had been okay since that night.


End file.
